Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy Supply

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) reports that businesses are stockpiling electrical power components in preparation for a no-deal Brexit, and (2) the impact a no-deal Brexit could have on UK power networks.

lord henley: Leaving the EU with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. This has not changed. The Government has accelerated no deal preparations to ensure the country is prepared for every eventuality.The UK’s exit from the EU will not alter the fact that our energy system is resilient and secure and drawn from a number of sources. The Government’s Technical Notices set out how cross-border trading and supply of electricity and gas will change, in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a Deal. The Government has worked with Ofgem and National Grid to ensure security of supply.The Government has recommended that businesses ensure they are prepared, enacting their own ‘no deal’ plans as they judge necessary.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

lord hain: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Duncan of Springbank on 27 March 2018 (HL Deb, cols 730–761), when they intend to act on the assurances given in those remarks about the provision of pensions for those who were severely physically injured in the Northern Ireland Troubles.

lord duncan of springbank: Work towards bringing forward a victims’ pension is a devolved matter and one of the many reasons why it is so important to have an Executive restored. The Government is aware of how deeply upsetting and frustrating this delay is for those who suffered so much during the Troubles. This is a very complex issue which requires careful consideration, as the Noble Lord will appreciate from his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. That is why the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has commissioned advice from the Victims Commissioner in Northern Ireland to ensure progress on this important issue. I am grateful to the Noble Lord for our continuing discussions about this matter.

Department of Health and Social Care

Obesity: Children

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are preparing a third chapter of the Child Obesity Strategy; and if so, when that chapter will be published.

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce a overarching national campaign against obesity as part of their Child Obesity Strategy.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: We are committed to reviewing the measures set out in both chapters of our childhood obesity plan and will continue to monitor progress and emerging evidence carefully. Where progress is not being delivered, we will consider what further action can be taken.Both chapters of our plan demonstrate an overarching campaign to tackle obesity. In addition, Public Health England encourages the population to follow a healthy balanced diet through the 5 A Day campaign, Change4Life and OneYou social marketing campaigns.

Obesity

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government when, under the NHS Long Term Plan, they will offer support and access to weight management services in primary care for people with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes or hypertension with a body mass index of 30 and above; what will be the nature of any such services; and who will provide those services.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The NHS Long Term Plan builds on the success of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme and diabetes treatment services and will provide a targeted support offer to patients with both obesity and type 2 diabetes, or with obesity and hypertension. The services will be provided in local communities and an implementation plan is currently under development.NHS England plans to increase access to services in secondary care for those with severe obesity. This will include the testing of very low calorie diets.NHS England, with its partners working in public health and diabetes, will help to ensure nutrition has a greater place in professional education. This will ensure that clinical staff have the skills and confidence to support patients in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

Health Professions: Training

lord dobbs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of UK students who have become NHS (1) doctors, (2) GPs and (3) nurses in England in each year between 2008 and 2018.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The information is not collected in the format requested.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Manzoor on 22 January (HL12835), what is the reason for the delay in updating the FP10 prescription form; how many low income patients on Universal Credit claiming free prescriptions have received a penalty notice; and how many of those penalty notices have been withdrawn because they were issued in error.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: A revised version of the FP10 prescription form, featuring a dedicated tick-box for use by Universal Credit (UC) claimants who meet the criteria for free National Health Service prescriptions, recently received Ministerial clearance. Any change to the form involves major system and software updates across the NHS to allow the re-designed form to be used and processed. The revised paper form is currently being prepared for testing, to ensure it is compatible with the scanners used by the NHS Business Services Authority. The revised form will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. At present, both UC and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants who are eligible for free NHS prescriptions, are ticking exemption box K on the FP10 prescription form to ensure they get the free prescriptions to which they are entitled. As a result, the NHS Business Services Authority is not able to confirm how many penalty charges notices have been issued to UC Claimants, and therefore how many were issued to UC claimants who had a valid prescription charge exemption.

MMR Vaccine

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to reverse the declining uptake in MMR vaccines, particularly in London, in order to retain the UK’s elimination status for measles and rubella.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: In January 2019 Public Health England, Public Health Wales, The Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and Health Protection Scotland published the UK Measles and Rubella elimination strategy 2019. A copy is attached.The strategy sets out four core components required to maintain elimination of measles and rubella: achieving and sustaining very high coverage (more than or equal to 95%) with two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) through the routine childhood immunisation programme; providing opportunities for MMR catch-up to all susceptible population groups over five years old; strengthening surveillance systems by rigorous case investigation and laboratory confirmation of suspected sporadic cases and outbreaks; and improving the availability and use of high-quality, evidence-based information for health professionals and the public on measles and MMR.A multi-agency group has been established to take forward the actions in the strategy in England. Local teams including those in London are expected to work with local stakeholders to develop a measles and rubella elimination action plan.



HL13528 attached information
(PDF Document, 1.86 MB)

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Equality

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department for International Development (DfID) recordsthe religion and other protected characteristics of those it employs; how funding is allocated to organisations after consideration of protected characteristics; and how DfID ensures that those non-governmental organisations, private sector companies, consultancies, and others with whom it contracts are required to report on how they have performed in ensuring equity of access to their work by those with protected characteristics.

lord bates: Employees can voluntarily declare their diversity data on our HR systems. DFID contracts are awarded after a process of fair and open competition on the basis of value for money, capability to deliver programme outputs and, as relevant to the specific procurement, equality considerations. DFID’s standard contract Term and Conditions require partners not to unlawfully discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, have due regard for the advancement of equal opportunity and promote good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Partners are also required to adhere to relevant recommendations by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. DFID’s Supply Partner Code of Conduct requires contractors to ensure that robust procedures are adopted and maintained to eliminate the risk of poor human rights practices, including any inequality or discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexuality, culture or disability. Both requirements are legally binding and subject to compliance checks by DFID.

Department for Education

Nurseries: Recruitment

lord porter of spalding: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children's nurseries are able to recruit and retain sufficient qualified staff practitioners toprovidehigh quality early education to all children.

lord agnew of oulton: We are committed to ensuring that all children have access to high quality early education and can achieve their full potential. The latest Ofsted data confirms that 95% of providers are now rated good and outstanding, up from 68% in 2010. In March 2017, we published the attached early years workforce strategy which outlined government's plans to support employers to attract, retain and develop early years staff to deliver high quality provision. This can be accessed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy. As a result of the strategy, we have worked with sector stakeholders to develop criteria for new, more robust level 2 qualifications, as well as developing new career pathways information to support careers advice, recruitment and staff development. This can be accessed at: https://www.cache.org.uk/media/1417/dfe-career-pathway-map-v17.pdf. The information is also attached.



HL13415_Early_years_workforce_strategy
(PDF Document, 638.42 KB)




HL13415_Career_pathway_map
(PDF Document, 590.19 KB)

Music: Education

lord watson of invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byLord Agnew of Oulton on 1 February (HL12956 and HL12957), what plans they have to maintain support for music education hubs when funding via the National Plan for Music Education comes to an end in 2020.

lord agnew of oulton: The department recently announced an additional £1.3 million for music education hubs until March 2020. The total funding for music education hubs between 2016-20 is over £300 million. This is part of almost half a billion pounds the department is investing in a range of music and cultural programmes between 2016-2020 - more than any other subject except PE.Funding for this commitment beyond March 2020 is a matter for the upcoming Spending Review. In the meantime, the department is reviewing the National Plan for Music Education.

Schools: Health Education

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Agnew of Oulton on 16 January (HL12720), whether the compulsory health education in schools, starting from 2020, will include water lifesaving skills.

lord agnew of oulton: Swimming is a vital life skill, which is why pupils are taught to swim and about water safety at primary school. Swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the physical education (PE) curriculum at key stages 1 and 2, which sets out the expectation that pupils should be taught to:swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres;use a range of strokes effectively; andperform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. We are making relationships education compulsory for all primary aged pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary aged pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils. Schools will be encouraged to teach the new subjects from September 2019. The requirement to teach the new subjects will then follow from September 2020. Following a comprehensive consultation process, including both a call for evidence and work with over 90 stakeholder and expert groups, we consulted on the draft guidance and regulations in autumn 2018. The new subjects are designed to complement the existing curriculum requirements. Schools will be able to integrate health education with other subjects, such as PE and citizenship, where it makes sense to do so. As such, health education should complement what is already taught and develop pupils’ core knowledge and broader understanding to enable them to lead healthy, active lives. It will be up to schools to decide whether and how to build on the core swimming requirements in this context.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Rented Housing: Overcrowding

lord ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent of overcrowded living conditions in private rented accommodation as well as social housing; and what remedial actions might be necessary.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: In 2015 The Government made an assessment of overcrowded living conditions in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Following extensive consultation, we acted by extending the scope of mandatory HMO licensing so that properties used as HMOs in England which house 5 people or more in two or more separate households would require a licence. These regulations came into force on October 1 2018.The Government is combatting overcrowding through £9 billion of funding for the affordable homes programme; £2 billion of long-term funding certainty for housing associations up to 2028/2029; and abolishing the housing account revenue cap. This is in addition to measures already in place such as the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenancy Standard which requires social landlords to develop and deliver services to address over-crowding in their homes.

Private Rented Housing: Licensing

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe joint report from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Chartered Institute of Housing A licence to rent published in January; and whether they will support local authorities expanding selective licensing schemes as a way of tackling poor quality housing.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government has studied the report carefully and it will be considered as part of our own independent review of selective licensing. The Department maintains a strong working relationship with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and a CIEH representative sits on the project board that oversees the selective licensing review. A final report on the Government review will be published in Spring 2019.

Private Rented Housing: Licensing

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether ministers will meet representatives from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Chartered Institute of Housing and representatives from local government to discuss selective licensing schemes.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Department is actively engaging with stakeholders on selective licensing. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health sit on the Project Board for the independent review of selective licensing which is currently underway. The Board also includes representatives from two local authorities, as well as the Greater London Authority and the Local Government Association.

English Language: Education

lord hodgson of astley abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Integrated Communities Strategy green paper, published in March 2018, when they expect to announce the results of the consultation on methods of improving English language skills.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: On 9 February we published the Government Response to the Integrated Communities Green Paper and an accompanying Action Plan. The new Integrated Communities Action Plan will drive forward work across government to create socially and economically stronger, more confident and integrated communities. In the Action Plan we commit to a new Cross-Government National English Language Strategy for Autumn 2019. We will engage widely with the sector to help shape its content.

Vagrancy Act 1824

baroness royall of blaisdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824; and if not, why not.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: This Government is clear that no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and sleeping rough. The cross-Government Rough Sleeping Strategy, which was published in August, committed to reviewing homelessness and rough sleeping legislation, including the Vagrancy Act 1824. The Government believes that review of the 1824 Act, rather than immediate wholesale repeal, is the right course of action to ensure the consequences of repeal are fully understood. My policy officials are currently developing the terms of reference for the review.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

baroness garden of frognal: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to consult on their plans for a UK Shared Prosperity Fund and if so, when.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government recognises the importance of reassuring local areas on the future of local growth funding once we have left the European Union and providing clarity on UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). We will consult widely on the Fund, providing all interested parties with an opportunity to convey their views. This will inform decisions on the design and quantum of the UKSPF, which are due to be made at Spending Review.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Cost Effectiveness

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they expect the Ministry of Defence to deliver the target of £13.4 billion efficiency savings over the next 10 years.

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what level of Ministry of Defence over-programming across the next 10 years they consider prudent.

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Ministry of Defence has a plan agreed with industry to maintain the UK-based capability to develop and deliver the equipment required by the armed forces in the future.

earl howe: We are reviewing the Public Accounts Committee's recommendations on the Equipment Plan 2018-28 and will provide a response to these questions in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

lord willoughby de broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there have been delays in payments from the Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA to participants in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme for 2018; and if so, why.

lord gardiner of kimble: While just under 50% of agreement holders have received their 2018 advance payment, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been working hard to ensure that remaining payments are issued as quickly as possible. The RPA took on administration of Environmental Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

lord willoughby de broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all participants in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme have received the payments due to them in 2016 and 2017.

lord gardiner of kimble: Over 99% of Environmental Stewardship agreement holders have received their 2016 advance and final payments. For 2017 just under 98% have received their advance payment and 80% have received their 2017 final payment. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been working hard to ensure that remaining payments are issued as quickly as possible. The RPA took on administration of Environmental Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

lord willoughby de broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether payments to participants in the Countryside Stewardship scheme have been delayed; and if so for what reason.

lord gardiner of kimble: Over 99% of Countryside Stewardship participants have received their payment for 2017 claims and payments for 2018 claims are underway. The Rural Payments Agency took on administration of Countryside Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.

Home Office

Motor Vehicles: Theft

lord bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to prevent thieves from stealing cars by using relay box equipment.

baroness williams of trafford: The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service chaired the first meeting of the Vehicle Theft Taskforce on 15 January. As part of its work, the Taskforce will review whether further measures are required to stop devices that may be used to commit vehicle theft falling into criminals’ hands.

Billing: Cybercrime

lord framlingham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the incidence of cybercrime against those who pay their bills electronically compared to those who pay their bills by cash or cheque.

baroness williams of trafford: The UK Government does not hold data on losses from cyber crime for those who pay their bills electronically.The cyber threats we face continue to grow in scale and sophistication. This is why the National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 is supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment.Advice is available to all businesses, big and small, about how to protect their customers by the NCSC.

Immigrants: Detainees

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they collect data on the faith identity of people currently held in immigration detention; and if so, what those data are.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many religious chaplains have been appointed to each immigration removal centre and short-term holding facility in each of the last five years.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people held in immigration detention receive appropriate access to chaplaincy and pastoral support.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings they have had with faith groups to ensure that chaplaincy and pastoral support is available to people in immigration detention.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government respects the rights of detainees to practise their religious faith. The provision of religious services in immigration removal centres (IRC) is through the Detention Centre Rules 2001, the Operating Standards for IRCs, and the relevant sections of the contracts and service level agreements relating to religious affairs.Under Rule 21 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001, if detainees on admission to an IRC wish to declare that they belong to a particular religion, that information must be recorded. This information is recorded by the IRC service providers on their own internal detainee management systems and is used to inform the religious provision available at the IRC.IRCs are equipped with mosques and multi faith rooms for detainees to use for prayer, study and reflection. Communal prayers are available in all centres as well as facilities for prayer in the detainees’ rooms such as access to prayer mats. Each IRC is required to have a manager of religious affairs whose duties include: establishing a multi-faith team; arranging for ministers of religion to conduct religious services for detainees; and arranging for ministers of religion to visit detainees of their religion soon after their reception into the IRC and as often as they reasonably can thereafter. Each IRC is also required to publish a calendar of religious festivals and observances so that recognition is given to those events and those concerned are able to observe them. Engagement with faith groups is undertaken at a local level by the IRC religious affairs manager.The religious needs of detainees held at short-term holding facilities must be catered for so far as practicable but, given the limited nature of the facilities at such sites and short durations of stay, there would not be organised services or ministers of religion present.All IRCs have a number of appointed religious chaplains in place. Management information shows that there were 11 new religious chaplain appointments made at IRCs between 2014 and 2018. Of these 11 appointments, 2 were made in 2014 (Gatwick IRCs and Morton Hall), 4 in 2015 (1 at Gatwick IRCs, 1 at Yarl’s Wood IRC and 2 at Morton Hall), 2 in 2016 (Gatwick IRCs and Morton Hall), 2 in 2017 (Gatwick IRCs and Heathrow IRCs) and 1 in 2018 (at Gatwick IRCs). This is provisional management information that is subject to change.

Immigrants: Detainees

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people currently held in immigration detention are claiming asylum on the grounds of religious persecution.

baroness williams of trafford: The basis of a person’s asylum claim is recorded on their individual Home Office file, but not in a way that can be easily aggregated. Therefore, we cannot provide figures on how many people are currently held in immigra-tion detention, claiming asylum on the grounds of religious persecution.As such, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost because it would require a manual search through individual records.Information on people entering detention in 2018 can be found in tab dt_01_q of the ‘Detention data tables immigration statistics year ending September 2018’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tablesInformation on the number of asylum claims, subsequent grants of asylum and humanitarian protection, irrespective of whether the individual was de-tained, (as at year ending September 2018) can be found in tab as_02¬_q at Volume 2 of the quarterly Immigration statistics release:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tablesInformation on people entering detention in 2018 can be found in tab dt_01_q of the ‘Detention data tables immigration statistics year ending September 2018’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tables

Department for Exiting the European Union

Borders: Northern Ireland

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government which technological solutions are currently under consideration, in the absence of a concluded EU withdrawal agreement, to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

lord callanan: The Political Declaration is clear that the UK and EU should work together and exchange information on facilitative arrangements and technologies. This sits alongside the UK and the EU’s existing commitment to developing alternative arrangements to replace the backstop. The Government plans to continue discussion with members from around the House and will finalise proposals to go back to the EU with.

Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to any special arrangements for trade between the Republic of Ireland and the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

lord callanan: We are committed to upholding the Belfast Agreement and will do everything in our power to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We have been clear, as have the EU, it is not enough to simply assert this. We recognise that we would need to take forward discussions with the Irish Government and the Commission in the event of a no deal on the best way to achieve this.

Borders: Northern Ireland

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what scenario planning has been conducted by Government departments responsible for security, immigration control, and food security and safety in relation to the EU–UK border in the island of Ireland.

lord callanan: The best way to guarantee no hard border remains delivering a deal with the EU, which means people on either side of that border will be able to live their lives as they do now. Both the UK and Ireland have said they will do everything in their power to avoid a hard border in any scenario, but in the event of there being a “no deal” we recognise we would need to take forward discussions with the Irish Government and the Commission on how to achieve this.

Treasury

Local Government: Borrowing

lord hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria are applied by the Public Works Loan Board when a local authority seeks to borrow to acquire commercial property for investment purposes.

lord bates: Responsibility for local authority spending and borrowing decisions lies with locally-elected council Members, who are democratically accountable to their electorates. Local authorities are required to have regard to the Prudential Code and statutory guidance when they borrow from the PWLB or from any other lender, these are published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and form the Prudential Framework. The main objective of the Prudential Framework is to ensure that the capital investment plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable. Before it can advance a loan to a local authority, the Public Works Loan Board requires formal assurance from the authority that the loan is within their borrowing powers and the relevant legislation.

Local Government: Borrowing

lord hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the extent and nature of the due diligence undertaken by the Public Works Loan Board before extending loans to local authorities to acquire commercial property for investment purposes.

lord bates: Responsibility for local authority spending and borrowing decisions lies with locally-elected council Members, who are democratically accountable to their electorates. Local authorities are required to have regard to the Prudential Code and statutory guidance when they borrow from the PWLB or from any other lender, these are published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and form the Prudential Framework. The main objective of the Prudential Framework is to ensure that the capital investment plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable. Before it can advance a loan to a local authority, the Public Works Loan Board requires formal assurance from the authority that the loan is within their borrowing powers and the relevant legislation.

Local Government: Borrowing

lord hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is an limit on loans which can be extended by the Public Works Loan Board to a local authority (1) in any one year, and (2) overall.

lord bates: The aggregate amount that may be outstanding in respect of commitments entered into by the Public Works Loan Board is limited, and this limit set out in section 4 (1) of the 1968 National Loans Act. Since December 2017, the limit has stood at £85 billion. There is no separate limit about lending amounts in any one year. Local authorities are responsible for determining their own limits on the aggregate amount of borrowing that they may have outstanding. The statutory guidance on borrowing and investment was updated in 2018; the updated guidance introduced a new requirement for all English local authorities to set limits for gross debt compared to net service expenditure. Authorities which exceeded their self-assessed limits should, in accordance with the guidance, refrain from making further investments other than short term investments required for efficient treasury management.

Local Government: Borrowing

lord hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what stepsthe Public Works Loan Board takes on an ongoing basis to monitor the commercial property investments acquired by local authorities and funded bythe Public Works Loan Board.

lord bates: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has stewardship of the local government sector in England. Together with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), they maintain the statutory guidance on local authority borrowing and investment. In light of changes in local authority borrowing and investment patterns, CIPFA and MHCLG updated the prudential code and statutory guidance in 2018. In addition, local authorities must make appropriate arrangements for the appointment of an external auditor to give an opinion on their financial statements as well as arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources. The Public Works Loans Board has no role in monitoring local authority activities.

Local Government: Borrowing

lord hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government which ten local authorities borrowed the most from the Public Works Loan Board for investment in commercial properties in each of the financial years since and including 2014–15.

lord bates: The Public Works Loans Board has no role in monitoring local authority activities. Under the prudential regime, decisions on borrowing are devolved to local authorities who are democratically accountable to their electorates. Information about the purpose of PWLB loans is not centrally held.” The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has stewardship of the local government sector in England. Together with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), they maintain the statutory guidance on local authority borrowing and investment. In light of changes in local authority borrowing and investment patterns, CIPFA and MHCLG updated the prudential code and statutory guidance in 2018.

Tax Avoidance

lord lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that contracts for core business functions are not entered into with companies who seek to minimise the rate of tax paid on their activity in the UK; and what assessment they have made of whether the use of any such contracts will create a conflict of interest within HMRC when it comes to enforcement of anti-avoidance legislation.

lord bates: The 2015 Public Contract Regulations introduced a new obligation for public bodies to exclude suppliers from a procurement where the supplier has been found guilty of breaching its obligations in relation to payment of taxes, and this has been established by a judicial or administrative decision having final effect within the relevant jurisdiction. This includes where HMRC have successfully challenged a potential supplier under anti-avoidance legislation.

Stocks and Shares

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of calls from European investors for regulators to protect their ability to buy and sell London-traded shares of companies with dual listings in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

lord bates: Delivering the deal the Government has agreed with the EU remains our top priority and the best mitigation against the issues arising in a no-deal scenario. Nevertheless, the Government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready from day 1 in all scenarios, including a potential ‘no deal’ outcome in March 2019. The UK authorities are not able through unilateral action to fully address risks to European investors seeking to buy and sell London-traded shares of companies with dual listings in the event of a no-deal Brexit. This would require action by the European Commission and the European Securities and Markets Authority to permit EU investment firms continued access to UK markets for London-traded shares of companies with dual listings.

Attorney General

Royal Albert Hall

lord hodgson of astley abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate that the Attorney General will give his definitive ruling on the points of law arising from the case of the Royal Albert Hall and the Charity Commission.

lord keen of elie: Last year the Charity Commission wrote to the Attorney General requesting his consent to refer five questions to the First-Tier Tribunal concerning the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences – i.e. the Royal Albert Hall, which is a registered charity. While the Charity Commission has the power to refer questions to the Tribunal, it may only do so with the consent of the Attorney General, as set out in section 325 of the Charities Act 2011. This is a complex case involving the application of modern day charity law to an organisation established over 150 years ago. Before making an assessment as to whether consent should be given to the Commission’s request, both the Corporation and the Commission were invited to make further representations to the Attorney General’s Office. It is important that these are considered carefully, taking into account all relevant factors. While it is not possible to provide an exact estimate as to when a decision will be made, the matter is being given careful thought with a view to reaching a decision as soon as possible.